Why big brands are the way to go

First, the big massage chair brands have their names on the line. Producing and marketing substandard products will only hurt their reputation and brand image.

These brands have been in the business for years and have built up their reputation through hard work and a genuine track record of producing quality massage chairs.

These companies usually come with excellent customer support and this is important when you have issues or questions about your purchase.

If you need to get your warranty fulfilled, it’s easier to circle back with these manufacturers.

Sure you can possibly get dirt cheap deals at fairs, parking lot sales, and carnivals. However, it’s not uncommon to lose your cash deposit, get saddled with a lemon, or be sold a chair with dubious quality from a fly-by-night company. In the end, buying from trustworthy brands pays for itself in the end.

So what are the top massage chair brands in the market? Apart from one respected Japanese brand the others are American. The Japanese are well-known for their advances in technology and machinery, and we Americans are known for going to the MOON, so yes, we can make a good massage chair.

Inada

Japanese brands are hands down the best in my humble opinion. The construction and design are simply top notch. While you can run into problems with brands like Fujita who actually make their products in China, this isn’t an issue with the premium Japanese brands. And of all the Japanese brands out there, my favorite is the Inada.

Why?

I just love most, if not all their models. I personally go for massage chairs for relaxation but Jane has a lot of aches and pains due to arthritis and whatnot. And this is where the Inada brand shines: They are simply perfect for people with health issues or for people who are engaged in demanding athletics.

For example, both the Dreamwaves and the Inada Flex are great for pain relief but the Flex focuses on posture correction.

(For a bit of brand history, Inada has been in the business since 1962.)

Let’s just put it this way. If you have the money to spend on one great chair, we’d be pointing you to an Inada chair.

Here is an interview of a guy who purchased one chair, returned it, and ended up with an Inada:

Human Touch

We’ve said it several times in our reviews how much we love the Human Touch brand. We really like their Perfect chairs and iJoys and have been recommending them to our readers.

Apart from trying out the chairs ourselves, Jane and I also thoroughly researched what real people were saying about these chairs and the feedback was really good. One of the recurring themes was what great chairs they were and how absolutely durable they were. Almost indestructible, they would write. A Human Touch chair would just go on and on and on. And at such an affordable price! Their chairs start at $500.

For this article, I actually dived into their History page and it was very revealing. In fact, I now understand why we liked the brand so much. Human Touch is apparently made up of people who are very proud of what they do. They take the creation and production of their chairs very seriously and obviously think of their brand as something akin to a family member.

And I just have to mention, it’s a huge green flag when a manufacturer has a really good website. Many brands don’t even have one, and so you won’t be able to see the faces behind the brands. But not Human Touch. Their CEO, Engineering, and Design heads are at the forefront.

For that reason, I really enjoyed this video. Not only will you see their customer support team at Long Beach, California, you’ll also see their Engineering head talk about how they manufactured their chairs so that hazardous and dangerous substances are kept out.

I also stumbled across a video of Dr. Wiedner paying the Human Touch company a visit and getting a tour. The video is old though but the exciting part is when they strip down a chair and you can see the mechanisms inside.

Summing up, Human Touch is a great US brand with an excellent customer support in California.

Osaki

The name Osaki sounds Japanese and it can be mistaken for a Japanese brand. However, Osaki has its chairs manufactured in China and their base of operations (or their customer support at least) in Carrollton, Texas. Apart from massage chairs, they also distribute handheld massagers, foot massagers, and other back relief and fitness products.

I personally lean towards Japanese-made products compared to Chinese-made ones, however, I have noticed that big retail brands like Buildabear Workshop and Miniso (two of our favorite retail brand names) have their products similarly manufactured in China. It appears that there is a difference between the no-name knock-off Chinese products that flood the market versus the big-name brands that have their products manufactured by the Chinese. I attribute this to stringent and high quality control systems in place. Overall, Osaki massage chairs are built well enough that they’ve made it to many Top 10 lists out there.

In addition to a great design and functionality of their chairs, the second shining attribute of Osaki is their excellent customer support. We read about how massage chair expert Dr. Alan Wiedner decided to carry the Osaki brand in his own showroom because of this very reason.

So, if the other Japanese and US luxury brands are too expensive for your pocket, check out massage chairs by Osaki.

Luraco

Luraco is proudly an all-US company. Believe it or not, they don’t only make massage chairs, they also have products in the military and industrial sector. This is probably why their models look so badass.

They’re based out in Arlington, Texas and specialize in robotic massage chairs. The sheer number of patents they hold is crazy.

This dedication to advanced technologies is reflected in the medical massage chair line up. On the high end of the spectrum in terms of price, the iRobotics nevertheless deliver when it comes to features and durability.

Some of the special features of iRobotics include voice commands, monitoring of blood pressure and heart rate, and robotic technology. The fact that these chairs are proudly US made means that the sizing for these chairs is especially tailored for US buyers.

You can read what the Weber State University has to say about the health benefits of Luraco’s iRobotics 7 HERE.

If you want a harder massage (the Inada chairs have softer massages) and want some serious advanced features, check out Luraco chairs.

Kahuna

We can’t leave out America’s bestseller can we? If you asked us what our most popular massage chair review is, we can easily and quickly answer — it’s the Kahuna. Now bear in mind, I think a huge factor that people are buying this a lot is that provides a good balance of price and features. You can get a lot of the features that you would normally only get from premium chairs.

Kahuna massage chairs are distributed by AJX.LLC and have been in business since 1997.

We hope this list helps you choose your massage chair for your home. Why not check out our Top 10 Massage Chair picks too, where you’ll find these brands mentioned several times?